Is the English Language Insane? We'll begin with a box and the plural is boxes;
But the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
Yet the plural of house is houses not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

3 :

Proto-Indo-European No written record exists
Traces can still be found:
Father: vater in German, pater in Latin, and pitr in Sanskrit
These words are all cognates, similar words in different languages that share the same root

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Indo-European Latin and the modern Romance languages
The Germanic languages
The Indo-Iranian languages (incl. Hindi and Sanskrit)
The Slavic languages
The Baltic languages of Latvian and Lithuanian
The Celtic languages
Greek

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Family Resemblances

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Family Resemblances

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British Isles The original inhabitants of the British Isles would have spoken a non-Indo-European language
The first Indo-European group to arrive on English shores arrived several hundred years BC
They undoubtedly spoke an early form of the language we refer to as Celtic
They became the sole inhabitants of the isles for a couple thousand years

8 :

The Invasions Begin 55 B.C. – Julius Caesar begins a series of invasions
Resistance is so strong that Rome leaves the islands alone for another century
43 AD – Claudius invades successfully
50 AD – Most of the area now called England is subjugated. The northern areas, however, remain free of Roman rule

Invasions – Trouble Back Home In the early 400s (5th Century), Rome starts having troubles back home
Increasing invasions by Barbarians
Decline of effective government
As a result, Rome begins withdrawing its troops from foreign lands
By 427 AD, Rome has left the Celtic Islands

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Invasions – Part Two: The “English” Arrive in England Roman rule held the Celtic people together for several centuries
Once gone, the various tribes begin fighting among themselves for dominance
This makes them ripe for conquest by any interested party

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Invasions – Part Two: The “English” Arrive in England The interested parties come from Jutland and Southern Denmark: The Saxons, Jutes and Angles
The name “Angles” is the root for our words “England” and “English”
They speak a mutually understandable language, although each group has its own dialect
This Anglo-Saxon language is what will come to be known as “Old English”
Similar to Frisian, which today is spoken in the northern parts of the Netherlands

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Invasions – Part Two: The “English” Arrive in England Four major dialects of Old English emerge:
Northumbrian in the north of England
Mercian in the Midlands
West Saxon in the south and west
Kentish in the Southeast

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King Arthur Legend, and some archeological evidence, suggests that around 500 AD, many tribes united under a man of Roman descent
He succeeded in holding back the Anglo-Saxons for a time
Came to be known as “Arthur”
Irony: The great English icon would have been speaking some form of Celtic while defending his country against invaders who spoke “English”
Ultimately lost, and the Anglo-Saxon invasions continued until all Celtic speaking people were pushed to the north

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Anglo-Saxon Rule The Anglo-Saxons, however, are no Romans
Romans brought an astounding degree of civilization, technological advancement, and order
Anglo-Saxons bring a love of fighting each other
The great Roman infrastructures (roads, public works, cities) are left to decay
Peasants huddle in small villages

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Anglo-Saxon Rule cont. Christianity falters, replaced by Anglo-Saxon paganism. Some of these gods remain with us today in the names of the days of the week:
Tie – Tuesday
Wodan – Wednesday
Thor – Thursday
Frig – Friday

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The Lord’s Prayer – In Old English Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum
Si þin nama gehalgod
to becume þin rice
gewurþe ðin will
on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. Father our thou that art in heaven
be thy name hallowed
come thy kingdom
be-done thy will
on earth as in heavens

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Invasion Three: The Empire Strikes Back By 600 AD, Rome invades again – not with armies, but with missionaries
Pope Gregory sends a conversion force to the southern part of the islands
The conversion meets with great success
This conversion will play an important role in the evolution of the English language

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Christianity and the English Language The intellectual community of Europe was centered around the Church of Rome
The Roman Church dealt almost exclusively in Latin
England gives up its Runic alphabet in favour or the Latin alphabet which is the most efficient way of recording virtually any language
As a result, English is now written as well as spoken by more people than ever
With the alphabet come numerous Latin words

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A New English Scholarship As part of the Latin intellectual community, scholarship in England advances at a surprising rate
Between the 7th and 8th centuries (the 600s and the 700s), English scholars are in demand even in the elite centers of Europe

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Invasion Four: The Great Danes 787 AD: the first real attack by a new group from the Indo-European tree
Significantly different language.
Significantly different social structure.
Begin attacking in the northern part of the island
Gain control over a large portion of England called Danelaw.

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Map Showing Danelaw

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Invasion Four: The Great Danes cont. Not big on the whole “intellectual community” thing
Pagan – no compunction about raiding and looting monasteries: in fact, this makes for a profitable livelihood
By the late 800s, have seized control of large areas of northern England and are steadily making their way south

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Norse and English words

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Vikings and the English Language Through their various invasions, the Vikings exert a strong influence over the language
“On a foggy Thursday, a sly dirty-necked, scowling outlaw skulked into the bank with a knife, ransacked it, and crawled out the window seeming happy”
Every word in the above sentence comes from the Vikings except: a, into, the, with, it, and, out

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King Alfred the Great – The Man Who Created England In 871 the Danes are defeated in their advance by King Alfred
In 878 he defeats them again.
Unifies England until much of Danelaw is recovered
He is the only king to whom the British ever gave the title “Great”

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The English Become English With the Danes in check, King Alfred begins to bring the country back to its former glory.
Arranges for Latin texts to be translated into English
Founds schools
Institutes the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: continuously updated on major events year after year
His heirs are competent rulers who followed in his tradition
England once more becomes a major force in the intellectual community

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King Aethelred the Unready The standoff with the Danes doesn’t last long
Olaf Tryggvason of Norway and King Svein Forkbeard of Denmark join forces to attack Southeast England
King Aethelred raises armies but can’t defeat the invaders
In order to hold off the Danes, the English begin paying a regular “tax” known as “Danegeld”
Finally, in 1016, Canute, the son of King Svein Forkbeard, becomes King of England

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England Ruled by the Danes Canute consolidates his power and places both English and Scandanavians in positions of power
In 1018, he paid off his army with one last great collection of Danegeld
Ruled as a Christian King
Promised an end to problems with the Vikings
Canut’s heir’s lose the power in 1042 to King Alfred’s line
But the biggest invasion is just around the corner

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1066 And All That In 1066 the French invade
They are called Normans and speak a version of French we call “Old French”
The English forces are defeated when their king, King Harold, is killed with an arrow in his eye
This is to be the last successful foreign invasion, but it will also be the most all-encompassing

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England Under the Normans/French English are removed from official positions and replaced by French
All official business and all government is conducted in French
Many of the kings from this point on don’t even speak English
Along with replacing the language, the French also replace the social structure, introducing feudalism: a state hierarchy with every individual responsible to somebody above him

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Feudalism and the English Language The peasants still speak English, but feudalism keeps them bound to a particular plot of land
Travel becomes rare
English speakers seldom speak to other English speakers more than 10 or 15 miles away

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English in Tatters Until King Alfred, English had generally been a second-class language
Now it fragments into hundreds of separate dialects
French becomes the prominent language of the country

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A Contemporary Account of English Under the Normans Ranulph Higden:
Children in school, contrary to the usage and custom of other nations, are compelled to drop their own language and to construe their lessons and other tasks in French, and have done so since the Normans first came to England. Also, gentlemen's children are taught to speak French from the time that they are rocked in their cradles and can talk and play with a child's toy; and provincial men want to liken themselves to gentlemen, and try with great effort to speak French, so as to be more thought of.

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Duplicate words In French, the word "boef" means both a male cow and beef
But it was Anglo-Saxons who tended the animals, and they called them by Old English names (cow, pig, sheep)
When the food was served, the Normans used the French names (beef, pork, mutton)

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Duplicate words Many legal terms, such as indict, jury, and verdict have Norman roots because the Normans ran the courts
Sometimes French words replaced Old English words; crime replaced firen and uncle replaced eam
Other times, French and Old English components combined to form a new word, as the French gentle and the Germanic man formed gentleman
Other times, two different words with roughly the same meaning survive into modern English. Thus we have the Germanic doom and the French judgment, or wish and desire

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Black Death 1348 AD, the Black Death strikes England
Has already been raging in Europe
Between 1348 and 1351 roughly 1/3 of the people in England die
This causes a massive labour shortage

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A New Work Force For the first time since the Norman invasion, peasants become a force to be reckoned with
They begin to travel
They begin to demand wages for their toil
The ruling classes have to deal with the peasants. Which also means having to deal with their language

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The Hundred Years War The English begin taking back England
At the height of their success, the English even manage to capture land in France
Eventually, they are driven out by French forces led by Joan of Arc

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The English Language: Our Story So Far 1000 BC: proto-Celtic speaking people arrive
43 AD: Rome invades, pushing the Celtic speakers to the north
427 AD: Romans leave
Post 427 AD: Anglo-Saxons invade, bringing the language that would become known as Old English
600 AD: Pope Gregory sends conversion force. Introduces Latin to the language
787 AD: Viking invasions begin. Introduce Norse language
878 AD: King Alfred halts the Vikings, England divided
Alfred begins consolidating the English language
Early 1000s, Danes begin new invasions
1016: a Danish king is on England’s throne
1042: England ruled again by an English King
1066: The Norman Invasion
1348: The Black Death comes to England
1336-1352: The Hundred Years War

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Assembling a Language With the Normans gone, there is no longer a reason to continue speaking French
Problem: there is now little in the way of a cohesive “English” language
London had long been the central city in England attracting people from all over the country
Result: develops a hybrid version of English
Becomes “Standard” English and is the basis of English as spoken everywhere in the world now

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English Enters Adulthood The language now enters the phase known as Middle English
When spoken, it is somewhat understandable to the modern ear
True “English” literature begins to appear:
Chaucer – the first great English writer
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – a Middle English story based on a tale from the early Celtic Arthurian tradition

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Chaucer’s English Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages),
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.
When April with his showers sweet with fruit
The drought of March has pierced unto the root
And bathed each vein with liquor that has power
To generate therein and sire the flower;
When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath
,Quickened again, in every holt and heath,
The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun
Into the Ram one half his course has run,
And many little birds make melody
That sleep through all the night with open eye
(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)-
Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,
And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,
To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.
And specially from every shire's end
Of England they to Canterbury wend,
The holy blessed martyr there to seek
Who helped them when they lay so ill and weal

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Modern English No other country ever invades England again – although the Spanish give several valiant attempts in the 18th century, and the Germans pound London to a pulp in the 20th century
England develops as a true empire, complete with colonization
With centuries of a linguistic tradition of incorporating outside languages, as the English colonize other countries, their languages colonize English
“English” grows exponentially

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English Today By the 19th century, English has become the largest language in the world
Today the English vocabulary outstrips every other by a margin of almost two to one
Estimated: 300 million native speakers, 300 million English as a second language speakers, 100 million use it as a foreign language
It is the language of science, aviation, computing, diplomacy, and tourism
It is listed as the official or co-official language of over 45 countries and is spoken extensively in other countries where it has no official status
This compares to 27 for French, 20 for Spanish and 17 for Arabic

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How much of the English language is “english”? Of the entire English vocabulary, as little as 1.5 to 2% is actually “English.”
All the rest come from the languages of various invaders.
So when it comes to our spelling, grammar, and anything else you want to complain about: DON’T BLAME US!